Chapter 3223: The Need For Control
Chapter 3223: The Need For Control
Date: Unspecified
Time: Unspecified
Location: Myriad Realms, Dark Realm, Seven Prince of Hell Territory, Pandemonium City
"The Ancient Bloodrool Race of the Sunless Realm."
Mommon answered as he set aside the tea set.
"How come that race is not listed in the Myriad Realm Race Records?" I asked, since I had an inkling that such a race or a realm existed, putting aside my surprise that it wasn’t the Owlape Empire.
There was no way that Mommon, as my Calamity Daughter Gem, would lie to me. The only explanation was that the Myriad Realm Race Records didn’t record all the known races across the myriad realms as it claimed to.
Well, this was not the first time it had failed me. It failed me when it came to the Pixies and Lil’ Baem’s identity. So, it wasn’t surprising to know that many races were actually not mentioned in the Myriad Realm Race Records. Especially those related to the Barred Beings.
"Share everything you have on the Ancient Bloodrool Race with me," I instructed Mommon to share the information through Hive Spirit while I pondered why it was not the Owlape Empire but the Bloodrool Race that had requested to buy the Demon Merchant Code’s transportation rights to the Card World.
The Owlape Empire’s reaction was making me totally reconsider what I had learned about them. Was Deviant Devil Mamas Mulias, the crown prince of the Owlape Empire, the black sheep of the entire race? Was I too quick to assume the worst of them?
There wasn’t much time left for my hearing with the Demon Merchant Code, and here I was reconsidering everything I thought I knew about the Owlape Empire because they hadn’t directly tried to capture my realm and threaten me into seeking the answers they wanted. Instead, they had appealed to the Demon Merchant Code for justice.
When a problem arose between two parties, the only time I knew one would do that was when they were the weaker of the two parties. The Owlape Empire sure as hell wasn’t the weaker one among us.
What was I missing?
Was it because they wanted to make sure of what I knew or had uncovered about the Realm of True Evil before they made their move? If that were the case, they would have contacted me privately instead of directly appealing to the Demon Merchant Code.
The fear of the unknown had plagued all sentient beings since the beginning of time. It was also called the intolerance of uncertainty. It was primal, passed on to generations to come, an evolutionary survival trap, if you will.
The name says it all. It stems from not having enough data. After all, a sentient brain was essentially a massive prediction engine. The anxiety one felt was their brain frantically trying to force them to find certainty.
Hence, this was seen more commonly in individuals with a higher need for control. Those who thrived on the sense of their agency. The feeling that their choices mattered and that they controlled their destiny.
With everything I had learned so far about the Myriad Realms, Myriad Cosmos, and the Myriad Cosmos Corridor, I felt that I was just as foolish as the Barred Beings of the Myriad Realms. The scale of the board they were playing on was bigger than any of them could see. They were foolish to think they controlled everything in the Myriad Realms, just as I was foolish to try to enter a room knowing everything there was to know.
I had been trying to slowly let go of this need for control. The first step was to trust those around me and share my workload. It was already doing wonders. I didn’t think the new Snow Elven Empyrean would be my Bloodkin. I was happy settling for him as my Calamity Daughter Gem, but Dalia surprised me. She did that. I was expecting similar results from my wives and the New Empire.
I had been trying to slowly accept that there were forces one couldn’t explain, and I had begun to rely on divination. I had come a long way, which was why it hurt to see that I could still get riled up if something beyond my understanding happened. Like in the case of the Owlape Empire.
I had already decided to stop worrying about it and get the answers I didn’t have directly from them during the hearing, but now, learning that it wasn’t the Owlape Empire that wanted the rights to the Card World but some other ancient ruler-class force non-native to the Dark Realm, I was right back where I had started.
What I hated more than uncertainty was running in circles. I was disappointed in myself.
A part of me consoled me that it was okay because the stakes were higher this time around. Especially considering that I was in this situation because I had ended up underestimating the danger of the Realm of True Evil despite my preparations.
The frightening thing was that if the Owlape Empire wanted to, they didn’t need the Demon Merchant Code to raid the Card World. They had their own inter-realm teleportation array. After all, they were an Ancient, True Ruler-Class force. With the number of their forces and their prowess, they could invade the Card World and destroy it for its will fragments even before most of the five regions realized that the second demon invasion was upon them.
Thinking back on it, there was nothing that could have prepared me for what happened in the Realm of True Evil unless I had managed to visit the Myriad Cosmos Corridor and learn its mode of communication from BoBo.
The most important thing to do right now was not to point fingers, wallow in self-pity, or wonder what I could have done differently, but to figure out a way out of this mess.
I held myself to a higher standard, but that didn’t mean I could be harder on myself and get in my own way. It was no different than dropping the axe on my own foot.